|
| |
|
|
|
Review Summary: Surprisingly a strong work after the loss of Hackett. The last Genesis album I can listen as a whole. “...And Then There Were Three…” is the ninth studio album of Genesis that was released in 1978. The line up on the album is Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins.
“...And Then There Were Three…” is another Genesis’ album marked by another change into their line up. This time it was Steve Hackett who left Genesis in 1977, soon after the release and the tour of their live album “Seconds Out”. The three remaining band’s members decided, again, not to replace Hackett by another permanent band’s member. As happened with Collins, who rolled both functions as a vocalist and drummer and Rutherford, who also played guitar, started to do also that duties of bassist and guitarist. However, Genesis decided that for their live tours they needed a guitarist and for that role was called Daryl Stuermer, an American guitarist. So, he joined to Chester Thompson that had already replaced Phil Collins on drums on their live shows after the departure of Peter Gabriel from the group in 1975.
The first Genesis’ album without Hackett, since “Nursery Cryme”, has a unified atmosphere and a very special mood. The great excitement is over, the heat subsides, but the mild memories of their past adventures are set in. The whole album runs in this mood, dreamy and soft. It’s an album without corners and edges, but with a lot of cuddle effect, even with the things that are supposed to sound harder. The drums are mixed into the background, but the melodic sounding guitars and keyboards clearly dominate. Over half of the songs on the album are under 5 minutes long. However, these songs are also steeped in the warm childhood feelings of the remaining Genesis’ crew. In reality, “...And Then There Were Three...” is an album with a very special mood. Here, Genesis makes the most of their situation on of being only three. The music of the remaining trio has become more song oriented and maybe a bit shallow, but the song writing is still impressive in many of the cases, especially on the tracks written by Banks. I’m talking especially about “Down And Out”, “Undertow”, “Burning Rope”, “Snowbound”, “Burning Rope”, “Deep In The Motherlode” and “The Lady Lies”.
“...And Then There Were Three…” has eleven tracks. “Down And Out” is a great opener, clearly a great song in the same vein of “Wind And Wuthering”. It’s the best song signed by all band’s members and is one of the best and more progressive tracks on the album. “Undertow” is one of the greatest songs on the album, one of the most beautiful songs composed Banks. It’s with “Burning Rope” one of the two best contributions by Banks on the album and it’s also very progressive. “Ballad Of Big” is a good song with interesting atmosphere, in the vein of “A Trick Of The Tail”. But, it’s less interesting than the two previous songs. “Snowbound” is another great moment on the album, one of its highest points too. It’s very beautiful and has a great choral work. “Burning Rope” is another great song. It’s the only long epic track on the album. This is my favourite song on the album. “Deep In The Motherlode” is also a very good song with great arrangements. It has brilliant guitar and keyboard works. It’s one of the last great songs on the album. “Many To Many” is one of the smallest songs on the album. It’s a nice ballad but inferior to the previous songs on the album. Unfortunately, it’s the last song to use a Mellotron on any studio recordings of Genesis. “Scenes From A Night’s Dream” is another small song with good vocals and lyrics, but like the previous track, it’s also an inferior song compared with the others. “Say It’s Alright Joe” is an interesting and nice song that fluctuates between quiet moments and explosions. Still, it’s inferior to the most part of the tracks on the album. “The Lady Lies” represents another great moment on the album. This is a song more in the classic Genesis’ vein with great keyboards, including a synth solo. “Follow You Follow Me” is clearly a song released for a single with the intention to be a big hit. It’s a good pop song that suits better on a Collins’ solo album. Definitely, it makes the definitive turning point on Genesis’ musical career.
Conclusion: I don’t consider this album as a minor work. Obviously, it hasn’t the presence of Hackett, or even it hasn’t the presence of a true guitarist. Rutherford is an excellent bassist but we know he isn’t a real great guitarist. Still, I think Rutherford did that function quite decently. This is the last studio album that can be considered as a Genesis’ prog rock album, with the exception of “Follow You, Follow Me”. This is a Banks and a Rutherford album. In reality, it’s essentially a Banks’ album because is dominated by his keyboards. It’s true that almost all the tracks are short, but the main prog characteristics of the band are still present. After this album, the most part of the compositions made by Genesis were written more in the commercial Collins’ pop style. So, “...And Then There Were Three…” has an interesting mixture of challenging rock with pop style with a progressive touch. The album is neither too shallow nor too complex, and that is probably the main reason why I like it so much. This is, for me, the last truly progressive studio work made by Genesis.
Music was my first love.
John Miles (Rebel)
| other reviews of this album |
Nagrarok (3)
...And Then There Was Pop....
clairvoyant (2.5)
The beginning of the end for Genesis, ...And Then There Were Three shows a large change in style th...
LePsych (4)
Genesis' first album as a trio is all over the place, firing in all directions but still hitting the...
|
|
Album Rating: 4.0
With this album I'm ending my short trip through some works of Genesis and some of the solo works of their members too.
And Then There Were Three is a very special album in Genesis career, and for myself. After the band have lost their front man, lyricist and one of their main composers, sudenly, they lose their great guitarist. If the first loss was a shock, this second was almost a earthquake. Take the decision to pursue only as a trio and without a guitarist, it was an act of courage. Very few bands would have done it.
I always loved this album. For me, it's a logical follower of Wind And Wuthering. It's true it isn't as good and is made of only shorter songs, but it keeps the main carachteristics of the prog style of their previous two studio albums. Besides, this is another album dominated by Banks and without weak points with the exception of Follow You Follow Me, which should never have been recorded on Genesis album. It belongs to a Collins album.
I know this isn't a consensual opinion, but this are my feelings. For me, their prog era began with Trespass and ended with And Then There Were Three. Its true both albums aren't thir best works, but I think they're the two simpler and maybe the two most beautiful. They didn't close their prog era in the best way, the way we all fans wanted, but I think they close it in a very decent way.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Nice to see someone liking this album too. And you like it even more than I. I liked to read your review.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Yeah, it's true. It's really a pleasure.
Thanks pal.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
This is so close to a 4
Down And Out, Undertow, Ballad Of Big, Burning Rope, Deep In The Motherlode, The Lady Lies and, Follow You Follow Me are all enjoyable. Will read your review later.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
definitely not better than duke
| | |
still need to check W&W, but I don't know about this one, less prog more pop...
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Ok Jethro. Do that and we can discuss about what I wrote later.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Nice to talk to you again, smaug.
About what you wrote, you already know that I disagree. We have discussed that some years ago, when you published your review about Duke.
Cheers, dude.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Yeah, less prog and more pop, Zig. But, in my opinion, it still has their main prog characteristics and still is great.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Album is consistently good. It's made to listen in its entirety, even if it contains few weak songs. ''Follow You, Follow me'' serves as a bait, and it's the only one which is a true pop song. One thing is sure, it's well done.
I agree with you that Rutherford is not really a guitarist. I would add that their new live guitarist Stuermer is more of a jazz rock guitarist than a prog rock one, so according to me, he doesn't fit to the band.
Good job on the review. The second paragraph is kind of a poetry, isn't it?
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
"definitely not better than duke"
*definitely better than duke
fixed
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Should I keep it at a 3.5...
Should I change it to a 4...
I have Duke at a 4.5, and I like both albums. And Then There Were Three sounds like one only epic song. The whole thing is greater than the sum of its parts. Duke is varied, and its prog is more prog. Ah well... I can live with a 4 on here.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
"The second paragraph is kind of a poetry, isn't it?"
Lol.
Nice to see that you change your rating, Jethro. How many more times you listen to the album, how more it'll grow on you. That happened to me.
About And Then There Were Three, you'r right. The whole thing is greater than the sum of its parts. So, it's a very well ballanced album, with only a weak point, its pop track Follow You Follow Me. And this is one of the reasons I prefer this one to Duke. Duke as many great songs, but it isn't more than that. It hasn't the unity that a true prog album must have. Besides, I only can see the Duke's suite as the only one true prog track on the album. But, don't get me wrong. Duke is a very good album, the best since And Then Were Three.
So, this are the reasons why I prefer And Then There Were Three to Duke, it's unity and be more prog as a whole.
Thanks bro.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
We both agree Koris. This one definitely better than Duke.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Great album, good review. It is nice to see some love to this album. Pos.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Yeah, it's nice indeed.
Thanks dude.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
@e21, there are more prog than Duke's suite to be found on Duke. Only ''Misunderstanding'', ''Alone Tonight'', and ''Please Don't Ask'' are not prog at all. But prog and pop fit together well in this album. Perhaps better than what we find in And Then There Were Three. Pop songs there sound like fillers.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
I agree there are more prog on Duke than its suite, Jethro. Still, Duke is a transitional album, from prog to pop. Even you mentioned three pop tracks. On And Then There Were Three, I can only see one. And even more, due to be a transition album, it's less balanced than the previous one. At least, it's the way I see both works.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Yes, And Then There were Three gets more constance prog-wise. However there is more pop than ''Follow You Follow me''; What about ''Snowbound'', ''Scenes from a night's dream'' and ''Many Too Many''. Duke's ones are more pop than And Then There Were Three ones, but still...
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Maybe we both are right in our very own vision. But still...
Maybe it's only a question of an acquired taste, as Gentle Giant mentioned. Lol.
| | | |
|
| |
